Power firms to raise load and bill you

In a development that could mean a more stable power supply in future, though possibly at a higher cost, the Capital’s power companies on Wednesday got the legal go-ahead to enhance the load of those consumers in the habit of using more than what is sanctioned to them. Avishek G Dastidar reports.

In a development that could mean a more stable power supply in future, though possibly at a higher cost, the Capital’s power companies on Wednesday got the legal go-ahead to enhance the load of those consumers in the habit of using more than what is sanctioned to them.

The Appellate Tribunal on Electricity ruled in favour of the companies, who have been fighting the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission for the right to enhance load on their own.

Typically, each household has a sanctioned load of 1-2 KW. But nearly all of them use 3-4 KW, due to the use of appliances such as geysers and ACs. This causes overload and breakdown of the grids and transformers, leading to power supply disruptions and faster wear and tear of infrastructure.

“This will help us build a more robust network that sees fewer breakdowns due to overloading and the life of our infrastructure will also improve,” said Gopal Saxena, CEO of BSES Rajdhani, Delhi’s biggest power company.

But for this to happen, Delhiites may have to pay a slightly fatter power bill.

If your load is enhanced, your security deposit would go up by Rs 600 for every additional kilowatt (KW) of power you consume and you would also have to pay a monthly fixed charge of R12 per KW.

Wednesday’s judgement affects almost all power consumers in the city since domestic consumers don't usually get their sanctioned load enhanced to what they actually use, either out of ignorance or to avoid paying a higher security deposit and fixed charges per month.

A consumer using more than the sanctioned load for three months a year will be eligible for automatic load enhancement. It applies only to those who have under-declared their load.